On the pulse

“We cannot continue to invest in the same service models of the past. We need a radical shift in how the NHS sees itself, from a hospital service for the ill, to a nationwide service to keep us healthy.”

Practice team blog

In the summer of 2015 the Daily Telegraph drew attention to unhealthy relationships between some health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry. It described lavish trips organised by drug manufacturers to promote their products and ultimately influence purchasing and prescribing practice.

I recently read the novel Even the Dogs, which is a fascinating insight into the lives of homeless and vulnerable people. The author Jon McGregor describes the stark realities of living on the edge of society, but what is most striking are his references to the importance of touch. He writes about how infrequently positive touch occurs in his characters’ lives, and describes one experience of a consultation with a nurse:

A few weeks ago I went to see Still Alice and cried. Despite close contact with people with dementia it was a shock to see a middle-aged woman with the condition, her rapid decline and the impact her illness had on those around her. As a woman in my fifties I was also frightened by what the future might hold.

The rhetoric of providing health care in the community, away from hospital, has been with us for years but the recent media coverage of problems in EDs illustrates how little progress has been made in shifting care from hospitals to primary care services.

When I was a student nurse we were taught that gloves created a barrier between the nurse and patient. So for much of my early nursing career I thought nothing of changing soiled beds, emptying commodes and gathering up sputum pots with bare hands. Although I also remember being obsessed with washing my hands at every available opportunity.

In my job as clinical editor I see the latest trends in quality improvement as hospitals quickly implement the latest policy or idea but I often wonder what happens in the long term when the initial fuss has died down? How often do we see a five or ten year follow-up of a nursing innovation?

Over the past few weeks I have edited a five-part series on blood transfusion, which has reminded me of the multiple points at which things can go seriously wrong, from taking a cross-match blood sample to administration of a blood transfusion.

I have two teenage children who have been through a school system that claims to educate them about the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse. In year five of primary school they both graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education programme and have regular PHSE classes at secondary school.

As part of my job I get out to conferences and meet nurses who have taken some time out to learn and network with others. I also spend too much time looking at Twitter, which gives the impression that everyone who works in the NHS spends most of their time at conferences.

After Mr Benn’s death was announced a few weeks ago I thought about that conversation and was struck by how my experience compared to so many others. Mr Benn had an amazing ability to listen, ask relevant questions and appear genuinely interested in my answers. When he got off the train I realised that he had said very little about himself and why he was on a train to Leicester but he had found out a lot about me.

It is nearly a year on from the Francis report and the launch of our Speak Out Safely campaign to ensure staff will be supported when they raise concerns about care. It was disappointing, therefore, to read the recent CQC inspection of Barts Health Trust.

In Opinion

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